Friday was the last day of the second week of the sixth cycle and day 88 of the pandacademic year. When we created our pandemic plan for this year we included a section on inclement weather, since we expected to be outdoors for most of the year, and committed to letting families know by 7:00 a.m. if we need to cancel for the day, meaning meeting remotely instead of in-person. When I looked at the weather early that morning the temperature was low but doable, if that was the only challenge. But we also had wind and rain in the forecast so day 88 also became another inclement weather day.
I sent off an early morning email to parents that included this message:
Another inclement weather day
“Today will also be a remote day. I know that a string of inclement weather days is not how folks envisioned how our first few days of being able to be back in-person would go. But the low temperatures, the wind, and the chance of rain are too risky. Today would be a good day to talk about how we should dress in weather like this when outside for extended periods of time in advance of when we can finally come back together again.”
When we came up with our plan I shared it aggressively with other education communities to encourage them to put the community first and take everything outdoors. Although we knew less about Covid-19 transmission last June than we know today, one thing that has remained constant is that other than staying home the best ways to limit the risk of transmission is to leave the schoolhouse behind (take it outdoors) and mask up when close to each other. I got pushback from many that said maybe we could pull it off in Austin, but it would be much harder to do in cold weather states. I acknowledged that was true, but also added the outdoor maxim that there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing choices. Well, that was not necessarily true. This is bad weather and we are staying indoors. Are we weak? Maybe. But we are not going to roll the dice on this one with temperatures lower than anything in the past 70 years.
Offering supplies placed on doorstep
Even though we were not going to be meeting outdoors, we would be meeting virtually as we have been since January thanks to the pandemic through Tuesday, and mother nature for the last three days of the week. Facilitator Ariel had a postcard offering scheduled so each of us had early morning runs to drop off the postcards at the houses of Learners who had committed to participate.
We made it back to our warm homes in time for the morning meeting. I started the meeting with a review of the agenda, set game shifting (jump in), very briefly reviewed the practices on the Community Awareness Board, and opened up the meeting for announcements. During announcements one of the Learners wanted to pitch his offering scheduled for that day, so I also brought up the calendar to review the offerings for the day. Then each of us considered two prompts and then shared. The first prompt was, what is a long-term, life outcome you want? The follow-up prompt was, what can you do today to move toward that? Here were some of the responses:
Not die before 70—eat healthy and exercise
Marry boyfriend and becoming a pilot—hang out with boyfriend
Stay healthy enough to go on adventures and live in community with others—participate in the 7-minute workout and the 45-minute Learner-led workout
Hang around my house - hang around my house
Make Abrome available to tens of thousands of young people—outreach work
Live in a big mansion and have a limousine—start saving
Live in a short bus and travel around America—look for a main source of income
Marry boyfriend and become a mom—bought a ticket to see him (happened already)
Be reasonably healthy and self sufficient, own my own home, live where I’m involved with community—try to schedule vaccination appointment and encourage others to do the same
Create prehistoric creatures—learn more about them
Our prompts used to revolve around getting to know each other better, or gauging how they were feeling that day. But such prompts did not spark much introspection so we have focused on deeper prompts, such as the one for Friday, and it has been working out really well. The engagement was really high, and most of the Learners were really present.
We then moved into the Check-in meeting where each member of the community could raise awarenesses. Only one was raised—meetings and check-ins feel better when everyone is fully present (e.g., everyone listens to each other, takes in each aspect of the meeting, does not unnecessarily extend length of meeting). Everyone participated in the Check-in, which is an expectation of everyone in the community, but only one Learner stuck around for the Change-up where we identify needs associated with the awarenesses, decide which practices and awarenesses feel good (have been incorporated into our culture) or that do not work, and come up with new practices. This is a major part of how we co-create culture together. For the recently raised awareness the needs we identified that were take care of others, allow people to feel heard and valued, and honor our agreements. The practices we came up with to support the community were use grounding practices to shift into meetings (e.g., breaths, exercise), if you are late to the meeting only ask questions in the chat (e.g., what's the prompt?), and plan to be present (e.g., minimize apps and put phones away). We also agreed that we felt good about hosts asking for commitments when a critical mass was needed for an offering and moved that practice and its awareness to the feels good portion of the Community Awareness Board.
Post-workout high fives
Up until that point it was quite a busy day, and we were only 30 minutes into the day! Next up we had our daily 7-minute workout with the usual crew, and then we high fived each other virtually and went on our separate ways.
I then moved into my free write offering which was a very lonely offering as no one else showed up. But the great thing about free write is you don’t need anyone else to write. So I made the most of the next 40 minutes to write, and then I started making lunch so that I could eat while participating in the postcard making offering. Meanwhile, Facilitator Lauren had a one-to-one check-in with a Learner that she has not had a lot of opportunities to connect with given the way that we have rotated cells and the number of cycles that the Learner has chosen to be remote. But on this day they really connected. The Learner had lots of questions about what Facilitator Lauren’s life was like at her age.
At 12:00 p.m. Facilitator Ariel hosted his postcard making offering. Just like the prior week’s yarrow salve offering, we had good turnout for this offering that required commitments and an ensuing delivery of materials. What Facilitator Ariel did was create a bunch of postcards out of watercolor paper. One side was blank; and the other side was divided by a vertical line, with a logo and horizontal lines for a mailing address on one side of that line, and blank space for a written message on the other side of that line. Then, everyone was encouraged to draw, color, or paint a happy Abrome memory. Unlike the yarrow salve offering we did not talk and joke throughout the entire experience, as this required a greater degree of concentration.
Sharing Abrome postcard creations, and goofy faces
The outcomes of the offering turned out pretty great. In the picture to the right, counterclockwise from the upper left, our happy moments were 1) Facilitator Antonio doing his monthly plunge into Lake Austin, 2) when Facilitator Ariel and a Learner ended up lost in the woods in one of the greenbelts they had not spent much time in—pictured is the Learner trusting her instincts and leading them out of the woods, 3) A memorable day from the first cycle which included the infamous Marshmallow Cult fortress/shrine, Facilitator Antonio making diced potatoes, and people roasting foods and marshmallows by the fire, 4) a watercolor painting of a dragonfly that was found floating on lake Austin,
5) two younger Learners running up a large staircase at UT-Austin during a past field trip to the Texas Memorial Museum and Union Underground. And lastly is an overjoyed, goofy Facilitator Ariel. What a fun offering!
Proof that even a Facilitator can win on occasion
Next up were competing offerings, an art and fart hosted by Facilitator Lauren and an Among Us offering hosted by an adolescent Learner. For the art and fart, one Learner showed up, giving Facilitator Lauren the ability to have some connection with the Learner outside of a formal one-to-one check-in. Meanwhile, there was a strong turnout for Among Us, with two Learners in addition to the host Learner, two Facilitators, and a guardian. Everyone was a winner on this day, even the Facilitators.
I then had two consecutive one-to-one check-ins, but one Learner did not log on for his. Likewise, Facilitator Ariel’s one-to-one check-in did not happen as that Learner also did not log on. It seems that the letdown of still being remote even after we dropped back down to pandemic risk stage level five is wearing on some.
Learner-led, 45-minute workout
But the 45-minute Learner-led workout was great! Only four people were able to participate in the workout but it met the needs of each of the four. It even supported one of the actions that could be done today to help move one toward a long-term, lifetime goal identified in the morning meeting.
After resting up post-workout, Facilitator Ariel opened the afternoon roundup. First, he went over the Community Awareness Board. He highlighted that we removed one of the awarenesses and that we added a new one. While talking about how we can be present, to include putting down our phones during meetings, one of the Learners was distracted and looking at her phone. We will continue to raise the awareness, and continue to practice the practices. Next, he opened up the meeting to announcements. And lastly, everyone shared one way they could show someone in their household that they loved them this weekend: hang out with family; sweep floor before anyone gets home; spend time with family; collect firewood, start a fire, and share hot chocolate; being there for my family the best I can and just do what people need me to do for them; be a good sport; spend time with my family; family game night. And on that high note we adjourned for the weekend.